Senate Investigates Loretta Lynch Over Clinton Email Scandal

A bipartisan group of senators wants to determine whether or not Lynch hampered the Clinton investigation.

A probe surrounding former attorney general Loretta Lynch’s involvement in the FBI’s investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private email use has been launched by the Senate Judiciary Committee, reports USA Today.

Senators want to determine if Lynch attempted to interfere with the investigation.

The probe comes amid several media reports that Lynch secretly told Clinton campaign staffer Amanda Renteria that the investigation wouldn’t “go too far,” in an e-mail included in a batch of hacked documents obtained by the FBI, writes the outlet. It was reportedly sent from former DNC chairwoman Rep.Debbie Wasserman Schultz to Leonard Benardo who worked at the Open Society Foundation.

According to USA Today, Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and California Sen.Dianne Feinstein issued a letter to Lynch last week demanding more information about her involvement. Bernardo, OSF General Counsel Gail Scovell, and Renteria received letters as well, reports the source.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee, and Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse have backed the investigation. “Graham and the Senators seek details about the reported communication, copies of any related documents and whether the FBI contacted them to investigate the alleged communication,” Sen. Graham’s spokesperson told Business Insider.

Lynch’s team says that she will “cooperate fully” with the investigation, reports USA Today. “Ms. Lynch is a committed public servant who has dedicated much of her career to the Department of Justice and led the department as attorney general in the fair and impartial administration of justice,” said Lynch’s spokesman Robert Raben.

This isn’t the only investigation on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s table. They’re currently examining possible ties between Russian officials and Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.